A very solid if not spectacular rendering of a rather unique, based on real life tale focused on an unconventional protagonist.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? related the criminal activities of Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a once-successful biographer, when her writing career has dried up to the point that she can no longer even make rent or pay for several bare necessities. Unable and unwilling to change her highly irritable personality or take suggestions from her publisher, Israel begins forging letters from dead celebrities and selling them to to bookstores around New York City for tidy sums. Her writing mimicry skills are excellent enough to fool even professionals for some time, but eventually the collector scene catches on and she has to go to greater lengths to pull of her forgeries. She even enlists her newly-made friend Jack (Richard E. Grant), an aged and charismatic party-goer and survivor who manages to couch-surf his way through a drug-addled existence.
Being a bibliophile who worked in bookstores for years, this story was one of great interest to me. It certainly benefits greatly from the fact that it is based on the very real Lee Israel and uses many of the facts around her life as a writer and forger. Anyone who can appreciate the artist's eye or ear for writing can marvel at what Israel was able to pull off for years, aping the styles of many different celebrity writers and playwrights well enough to fool even discriminating collectors. A viewer who doesn't care much for that subject matter probably won't find the story terribly engaging, but it was plenty for me and my wife, herself a poet and appreciator of writing ability.
The performances were also great. This should come as no surprise when it comes to Richard E. Grant, who has long been a fantastic actor, especially when playing charismatic, irresponsible addicts such as Jack. The real surprise is just how excellent McCarthy is, given the need for some real dramatic gravitas for the role. Lee Israel is portrayed as a mostly unlikable, alcoholic recluse who is in the deep throes of self pity and inflexibility. While she has a biting wit that lends some levity to her character and the film, it is never of the more bombastic, even slapstick variety of humor for which McCarthy is best known. Instead, McCarthy conveys every bit of Israel's dry, caustic humor with just the right amount of jaded cynicism required. It certainly makes me curious to see her in more dramatic roles in the future.
I will say that I found the movie's dialogue, and even the dynamic between Israel and Jack to be flat and a bit under-developed. It seemed to think that some of the jokes were a bit funnier than I found them to be, and the bond between Israel and Jack at times felt a tad forced. Neither of these was a fatal flaw by any means - just a few areas that I felt could have been stronger.
I enjoyed this one, though. Highly recommended for those who are into literature and real-life tales about those on the fringes of the industry.
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